Educational inequality is the difference that students experience in their education compared to other students. Educational success is measured based on grades, test scores, drop-out rates, college entrance numbers and college completion rates [1] . In Britain there is increasing concern regarding the fairness of schools and the levels of inequality. A number of studies show that class, race and gender are crucial factors in determining how British pupils succeed at both school and after. Boys are behind girls in 11 out of 13 different learning categories by the young age of 5, black pupils who are from a Caribbean descent are at least three times more likely to be excluded, children from the poorest families are over half as likely to achieve …show more content…
In terms of gender it is clear that boys are at a disadvantage from an early age, this will inevitably affect their success in the future starting with getting into good schools after the 11 plus, through to higher education and employment. However although boys are clearly the victims of this inequality, girls are also at a disadvantage, especially those from the working class. Girls’ scores for the 11 plus examination are adjusted down as they are outperforming boys’ achievement. This means that thousands of girls who did pass the 11 plus should have gained a place at grammar schools but were prevented from doing this because of downgrading. The reason behind this downgrading was because of the fear that all schools would be filled with far more girls’ than boys’ [8] . Those of different cultural backgrounds are also at a disadvantage with varying performances for each ethnicity and a large difference in numbers of those who suffer suspension or exclusion. However it can be argued that different ethnicities have a different working culture which results in a different approach towards work and school, as demonstrated in the difference in attendance statistics. Class is one of the main focuses when looking at the problem of inequality in education. Bourdieu argues that social and cultural inequalities are …show more content…
The need for studies to be done to find ways of overcoming these inequalities is very inevitable. The means of mitigating these inequalities are important for the entire world. This is something of great interest due to the fact that children need quality education which is a pillar for a guaranteed future. Equality in education will to a large extent, guarantee every human being a better position in the society (Pardeck, 2008). Causes of inequality in education range from poor government policies, capitalistic nature of society to poor management of education systems. This paper is very important as it brings out major causes of inequality and how they can be addressed. (In the introduction you could have defined what inequality in education is all